Chairman's State of the FHCASA

Managers, it has been a fast, and short, month for all of us. That is part of getting older I know. When I was a kid I would hear my Grandfather tell many others that "the older I get, the faster time flies." Now I am that guy, and it is still the way it is. Regardless, we are still playing the game we love, thanks to the hard work of our FHC Board, and many of you as well that help put on these tournaments twice a month all year.

I know we keep harping on this but Tom Peterson, our Vice Chairman, asked me to remind all of our managers about the importance of filling out the Hotel Forms at each tournament site, even if you are commuting that weekend. The venue costs continually rise and we must do everything we can to get the information for the Heads and Beds that help pay for the fields that we use. Some places that we have played at for years are pricing themselves out of our range. We are in direct competition with the kids programs and they (parents and grandparents) will pay the high dollar fees to come and play at some of our newer facilities. So, keep filling out those forms for us please. It is very important to our Association.

Managers, you told us you wanted a greater voice in our Association so we intend on getting that done. The first Survey Monkey will come on line this Friday. Look for it and don’t forget to vote. The topics for your survey are as follows:

Our website is up and running and getting more information on there every week. As a reminder, if you have any changes dealing with rosters, cell numbers, addresses, emails, etc., please contact our Secretary Greg Hazel. But, also remember that only the Manager is to make the contact and not the individual players. If you or your players have a question about anything else you should call your Area Director. The numbers are on the website.

On the weekend of March 11-12 we will be having Regional FHC Managers Meetings. If you did not make it to the January meeting this is a good time to catch up on the current FHC plans. This meeting will be primarily for the new teams and managers or anyone who needs to know how to get, pass along, or change important information. Many of our new people do not know how to do rosters, or do pick-ups, or know who to call to get appropriate information. This and much more will be passed along at each of these meetings. Your Area Directors will contact their teams in the coming days.

If you are interested in your team being a Host at one of our tournaments then get in touch with your AD as soon as possible. Almost all tournaments have 2 Hosts. There are few teams that have hosted for several years and have proven that they have the numbers and know how to do the tournament by themselves. All brand new teams will Co-Host.

I have been successful at getting to most all of our venues and visiting with many of our teams. I promised you that I will do that and be there to help you and your teams with anything that I can. I look forward to seeing you at the next tournament that you play in.

Once again, our Hall of Fame Class of 2016 is:

Wayne Berryhill

Gary Deaton

Audie Hollis

Mike Knowles

Jim Lyle

Dave Motta

Mark Thomas

Please take the time and congratulate these great players for their contributions to the greatest Senior Softball Association in America.